It's strange. For pretty much all my adult life, I've been anxious, shy, cautious and hesitant in most things. People didn't seem to understand why I was the way I was, so I turned these struggles into a box I could hide in, a shield of some sort to protect who I was. Eventually, others caught on, using these issues as excuses as to why I couldn't come to an event or handle a situation. I grew to like these lies I called my identity. I was fine with them. They explained why I was the way I was. They fit. The box that I hid myself in grew more comfortable, but as time passed it also grew smaller. And then suddenly, it became suffocating. I can't escape the way I am now, and today has taught me that I can't escape anything. There's nothing I can do to stop the powers flowing through me or my fears-they're intimately entwined. But learning how to handle my powers means learning how to manage my fears. I can't be held back anymore, not when I can do something about the fear in this world. Except the shield is now a prison. I'm still afraid, and I can't get out. After all, I've created it myself. Break it. Vivian Strain is a young woman who is just trying to live a quiet, normal life. A year later after a mysterious incident left her with PTSD and without a four-year recollection of her life since she was sixteen, Vivian begins to unravel the truth about who she is---and more importantly, who she has become. --- None of the images belong to me. Thank you for reading!